Battery (tort)

	Email		Print
	Bookmark		Link

Battery (tort)

At common law

Common law

Common law refers to law and the corresponding Legal systems of the world developed through legal opinion of courts and similar tribunals , rather than through statute law or Executive ....
, battery is the tort

Tort

Tort law is the name given to a body of law that addresses, and provides remedies for, civil wrongs not arising out of contractual obligations. A person who suffers legal damages may be able to use tort law to receive compensation from someone who is liability, or "liable," for those injuries....
of intentionally (or, in Australia

Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
, negligently) and voluntarily bringing about an unconsented harmful or offensive contact with a person or to something closely associated with them (e.g. a hat, a purse). Unlike assault

Assault (tort)

In common law, assault is the tort of acting intentionally and voluntarily causing the reasonable apprehension of an immediate harmful or offensive contact....
, battery involves an actual contact. The contact can be by one person (the tortfeasor) of another (the victim), or the contact may be by an object brought about by the tortfeasor.

Discussion

Ask a question about 'Battery (tort)'

Start a new discussion about 'Battery (tort)'

Answer questions from other users

Full Discussion Forum

Encyclopedia

At common law

Common law

Tort

Australia

Assault (tort)

Trespass

Trespass is a legal concept, which refers to intrusion into another person's property. Trespass to land is a type of trespass, which can cause criminal or a tort liability....
and as such no actual damage (eg. injury) needs to be proved. Only proof of contact (with the appropriate level of intention or negligence) needs to be made. If there is an attempted battery, but no actual contact, that may constitute a tort of assault.

The degree and quality of intent

Intent

Intent in law is the planning and desire to perform an Criminal act, to fail to do so or to achieve a state of affairs in psychological view it may mean a different thing....
in civil (tortuous) battery is different to that for criminal battery

Battery (crime)

Battery is a crime in England and Wales, Northern Ireland, the United States and other jurisdictions. There is an offence which could be described as battery in Russia....
. The degree and quality of intent sufficient for battery also varies between common law countries, and often within differing jurisdictions of those countries. In Australia

Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
, negligence in an action is sufficient to establish intent. In the United States

United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
, intention to do an act that ultimately results in contact is sufficient for the tort of battery, while intention to inflict an injury on another is required for criminal battery.

In the United States, the common law requires the contact for battery be "harmful or offensive". The offensiveness is measured against a 'reasonable person' standard. Looking at a contact objectively, as a reasonable person would see it, would this contact be offensive? Thus, a hypersensitive person would fail on a battery action if jostled by fellow passengers on a subway, as this contact is expected in normal society and a reasonable person would not find it offensive. Harmful is defined by any physical damage to the body.

Battery need not require body-to-body contact. Any volitional movement, such as throwing an object toward another, can constitute battery. Touching an object "intimately connected" to a person (such as an object he or she is holding) can also be battery. See, Fisher v Carrousel Motor Hotel, Inc., 424 S.W.2d 627 (1967).

Intent can be transferred with battery, i.e. a person swings to hit one person and misses and hits another. He or she is still liable for a battery. See, Talmage v Smith, 101 Mich. 370, 59 N.W. 656 (1894).

The standard defenses to trespass to the person, namely necessity

Necessity

In U.S. criminal law, necessity may be either a possible Justification or an exculpation for breaking the law. The corresponding defense in Britain is called "lawful excuse." Defendants seeking to rely on this defense argue that they should not be held liable for their action as a crime because their conduct was necessary to prevent s...
and consent

Consent

Consent as a term of jurisprudence is a possible defence against civil or criminal liability. Defendants who use this defense are arguing that they should not be held liability for a tort or a crime, since the action s in question were taken with the plaintiff or "victim's" consent and permission....
, apply to battery. As practical examples, under the first, a physician may touch a person without that person's consent in order to render medical aid to him or her in an emergency. Under the second, a person who has, either expressly or impliedly, consented to participation in a contact sport cannot claim in battery against other participants for a contact permitted by the rules of that sport.

Battery (tort)

See also